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MLB built a state of the art broadcast center and required every team to provide an SD & HD feed to the center. The providers along with MLB.TV have rights to these feeds as part of Extra Innings.

This was part of the reforms found in the 2007 agreement. Before that time extra innings was purely remapping RSNs on Directv. Earlier in the decade I spoke with one of the Directv attorneys negotiating the agreement with MLB. Having the rights provided by MLB was a cornerstone of the agreement. Directv did not want to have to find agreement with each provider and build infrastructure for OTA broadcasts. Also, it navigated the Comcast issue and had them receive Canadian feeds.

What does this have to do with DirecTV EI being different and superior to inDemand EI?

The big difference between NHL and MLB is the requirement the teams provide an SD and HD feed in MLB.

I've seen this argument posted many times, but I'm not so sure there this is the case. As I understant it, MLB's requirement merely prevents a team from withholding the rights to use their broadcasts as part of EI at any price (like what happened with MSG HD and NHL Center Ice a while back). It is my understanding that DirecTV and InDemand still have to pay for equipment and license fees in order to use the feeds, which is why (for both MLB and NHL) DirecTV gives priority to feeds from the RSN's already carried as part of DirecTV's regular lineup.

You might recall, for example, the YES dispute from a year or two ago. It was resolved without interruption, but DirecTV explicitly stated that if they had to remove YES, they would also have to remove YES from MLB EI.

It is 119.99 for those on auto renew, However for those who want to get the triple a and other minor league team games too don't auto renew this time and choose to pay the full price and due the tack on for 20 bucks. Which brings the total to 149.99. Instead of 159.98 for both. Next year auto renew will work for both and the combine cost would be 139.99. Not sure why it didn't work that way this year. That is done by just ordering a new season now. As a result it bypasses the auto renew that is already on those accounts.

MLBTV pricing is out. $129.99 for premium. Looks like I will be dropping EI this year for this unless it is bundled in some fashion. But it doesn't look like it will be.

Directv doesn't need to offer a slingbox. You can get one and put it on anything. I use one all the time.

I know that, but instead of having the upfront cost of $250+ for an HD model, then having to hook it up to a receiver and rendering that receiver useless while the remote device is using it, it would be nice to have it built into the box and have the cost included in the hd-dvr fee.

I know that, but instead of having the upfront cost of $250+ for an HD model, then having to hook it up to a receiver and rendering that receiver useless while the remote device is using it, it would be nice to have it built into the box and have the cost included in the hd-dvr fee.

Nothing is free and you can get a Slingbox for a lot less that $250 with zero follow on fees.

Well just got done getting mlb extra innings for 149.99 . all you need to do is call up and ask then when they say they can't then cancel and they will work something out. I bought it for 199.99 then given a 50.00 refund.

I must be the only one that thinks MLBEI at $200 is a steal. Just counting the 150+ games of your favorite team whoever that may be is worth that much. It works out to roughly $1.23 a game. You can't go to a three game series at the park for that. And then you add in that you have the entire schedule to choose from for a second game on a daily basis its more than fair.